Richard Pryor is the reason to see this movie. He takes a somewhat ordinary story, of a soldier who returns home from a Vietnam POW camp, to a less than welcome home, and makes it a better movie. His trying to look tough and menacing, and acting it out in front of a mirror, is really good ("Freeze, sucka! Get DOWN!!"), and then having all his efforts totally evaporate at the bank! A welcome movie to see, I recommend it. 7/10
19 Reviews
One of Pryor's more thoughtful performances...but a good central idea is diffused by too many targets
moonspinner557 October 2010
After five years as a POW in Hanoi, Army Corporal Richard Pryor is rescued and returns to the States a hero (he makes the evening news after a journalist suggests he bend and kiss the ground). Still, heroes don't linger long in a busy world, and soon Pryor is fighting for his self-worth after the government turns their back on him and his wife admits she's moved on with her life. Serio-comic adaptation of James Kirkwood Jr.'s novel by Kirkwood and Robert Boris makes an uneasy vehicle for the star, who is encouraged to go deeper as an actor yet still retain his naughty persona and signature foul mouth. The character's imprisonment under the Vietcong takes up thirty minutes of screen-time (far too long), while the limply dramatic stuff with the unfaithful Mrs. chews up another ten. Pryor has some strong scenes here and there, but he's relying on externals to get him through. He allows himself to be vulnerable and loving, and this works up to a point, yet the feel-good ending is a cheat (larceny cures all!) and a romance with Beverly Hills hooker Margot Kidder (who appears to have no other clients) is rather unlikely. ** from ****
Good Dramedy
itsmcpaolo18 July 2018
This is definitely one of Pryor's better performances. Maybe not his funniest but on the drama side of things the movie is thoughtful and touching at times because of his performance, and he's still funny when he needs to be. The director/writer I think overreaches in the end but this is definitely worth watching for Pryor's performance if nothing else.
Pryor is so good
Quinoa19843 September 2000
In this film, it starts off great and it kinda sizzles after a while, but it is at least put together well by one guy- Richard Pryor. He rises above the material here like no other and actually gives a good dramatic/comedic performance (his best dramatic one besides Blue Collar). While the prison camp scenes are quite intriguing, it becomes a little undone at home. That's my complaint. B-
Pryor makes it bearable.
Hey_Sweden12 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Richard Pryor gets to really show off some talent here as an actor in this adaptation of the James Kirkwood novel. It has good moments, but never really satisfies; it works fairly well when it gets serious but its comedy is never that funny. Pryor really is better than the material, which doesn't achieve an effective balance between its drama and comedy. It's not bad as yet another look at the problems of Vietnam vets readjusting to civilian life, in any event.
Pryor plays Eddie Keller, who's taken as a prisoner of war during his tour in Vietnam. When he's brought back to the States, he finds having to put up with Army red tape to be intolerable. In addition to being in desperate need of money, he learns from his wife Lisa (Lynne Moody) that she's in a relationship with another man and that his mother Jesse (Olivia Cole) is in a nursing home - an expensive one, to boot, which is about to kick her out if they don't get paid.
Eddie makes friends with a well meaning prostitute named Toni (Margot Kidder) and eventually sees a way to deal with the money problem - larceny.
This wouldn't be nearly as watchable if it weren't for Pryor, who's touching as well as funny. You feel so bad for him, in fact, that scenes in which Eddie bungles hold-up jobs to be much more pathetic than humorous - which may have been the point. Pryors' scenes with fellow P.o.W. Vinnie (Ray Sharkey) are deeply affecting; the late Sharkey makes the most of his brief screen time. Ronny Cox lends strong support as the colonel who tries to help Eddie upon his return to America. Kidder is appealing and a couple of familiar character players - such as Paul Benjamin, Matt Clark, Anne Haney, Peter Jason, Caren Kaye, Sandy Ward, and the much too briefly utilized Tim Thomerson - can be seen in small roles.
Ultimately, while one does want happiness and success for the Eddie character, the feel-good ending is not all that believable. The movie is decent, but it's not memorable in any way.
Six out of 10.
Pryor plays Eddie Keller, who's taken as a prisoner of war during his tour in Vietnam. When he's brought back to the States, he finds having to put up with Army red tape to be intolerable. In addition to being in desperate need of money, he learns from his wife Lisa (Lynne Moody) that she's in a relationship with another man and that his mother Jesse (Olivia Cole) is in a nursing home - an expensive one, to boot, which is about to kick her out if they don't get paid.
Eddie makes friends with a well meaning prostitute named Toni (Margot Kidder) and eventually sees a way to deal with the money problem - larceny.
This wouldn't be nearly as watchable if it weren't for Pryor, who's touching as well as funny. You feel so bad for him, in fact, that scenes in which Eddie bungles hold-up jobs to be much more pathetic than humorous - which may have been the point. Pryors' scenes with fellow P.o.W. Vinnie (Ray Sharkey) are deeply affecting; the late Sharkey makes the most of his brief screen time. Ronny Cox lends strong support as the colonel who tries to help Eddie upon his return to America. Kidder is appealing and a couple of familiar character players - such as Paul Benjamin, Matt Clark, Anne Haney, Peter Jason, Caren Kaye, Sandy Ward, and the much too briefly utilized Tim Thomerson - can be seen in small roles.
Ultimately, while one does want happiness and success for the Eddie character, the feel-good ending is not all that believable. The movie is decent, but it's not memorable in any way.
Six out of 10.
A Hero Can't Buy A Sandwich
boblipton5 September 2019
Richard Pryor spent half a decade as a POW in Vietnam. Now he's back in the US, and he's a hero. Except that his wife has walked out on him, his mother is in a nursing home and they want more money, the Army is taking its time on anything except for using him in press conferences and the bank he asks for a loan won't grant it. The only person willing to actually help is Margot Kidder, a high-class call girl, and he names her profession baldly.
Watching Pryor in a straight role is interesting. He plays the same sort of character he does in his comedies, hapless and out of his depth, but without the air of hysteria that informs his comedy. The result is a telling satire of the growing disconnect between the promise of America and the reality.
Watching Pryor in a straight role is interesting. He plays the same sort of character he does in his comedies, hapless and out of his depth, but without the air of hysteria that informs his comedy. The result is a telling satire of the growing disconnect between the promise of America and the reality.
Some kind of Nonsense
Mikelito26 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is strictly for Pryor fans. Just because he was a great, funny guy doesn't mean this is more than a B-Movie. The script is awful, it just meanders around constantly ridiculing crime and prisoners of war. It balances between comedy and melodrama and keeps falling on its face doing justice to neither.
First there are 30 minutes of rather unrealistic, uninspired Vietnam prisoner of war time the guy is playing basketball at one point... How more can you pander to your audience?... That prison time is boring, unconvincing and already can easily put one to sleep.
Back in the U.S. the guy for no real reason at all is considered a "war hero". Yet he is of course quickly forgotten by the public and seems to be stumbling into all kinds of wacky mishaps. Or are they really? We will soon find out. Yawn. There are annoying clichés: his sick mother, his little daughter he never meets, a high end whore falling in love with the hero etc. It is very odd how this movie constantly switches from tragedy to slapstick in one instant. Doesn't work at all.
Overall this in fact is just a bad comedy and does a disservice to prisoners of war. Just because this guy was a great stand-up comedian, played in a few good movies and died of MS is no reason not to be annoyed by this silly, unconvincing, unfunny comedy. But if you like Richard Pryor you will probably be thrilled by him reading 3 hours of Dadaist poetry.
First there are 30 minutes of rather unrealistic, uninspired Vietnam prisoner of war time the guy is playing basketball at one point... How more can you pander to your audience?... That prison time is boring, unconvincing and already can easily put one to sleep.
Back in the U.S. the guy for no real reason at all is considered a "war hero". Yet he is of course quickly forgotten by the public and seems to be stumbling into all kinds of wacky mishaps. Or are they really? We will soon find out. Yawn. There are annoying clichés: his sick mother, his little daughter he never meets, a high end whore falling in love with the hero etc. It is very odd how this movie constantly switches from tragedy to slapstick in one instant. Doesn't work at all.
Overall this in fact is just a bad comedy and does a disservice to prisoners of war. Just because this guy was a great stand-up comedian, played in a few good movies and died of MS is no reason not to be annoyed by this silly, unconvincing, unfunny comedy. But if you like Richard Pryor you will probably be thrilled by him reading 3 hours of Dadaist poetry.
Taking care of Business
sol121811 July 2005
**SPOILERS** Somewhat Average movie, with an above average performance by Richard Pryor, about a war veteran coming back home to find that his life turned upside down since he went away. Caught by the North Veitnamese with his pants down Cpl. Eddie Keller, Ricard Pryor, ends up in a communist Vietnamese POW camp for five years.
With nothing to eat but rice and roaches and having a pet rat as a cell-mate things pick up a bit for Eddie when he had another US POW Vinnie Diangelo, Ray Sharkey, as company but even that turned out to be a tragedy for Eddie with Vinnie dying, and without any medical care, he signed a statement saying that the US was committing war crimes in Vietnam in order to get Vinnie help. All that did for Eddie, Vinnie seemed to have died anyway, was brand him a traitor, Eddie was later cleared of that accusation, and indefinitely holds up his severance pay for spending five years behind bamboo bars for his country.
Back home things got even worse for Eddie by him first finding out that his wife Lisa, Lyne Moody,was living with another man, who together with Lisa blew all of Eddie's savings, and has a young six year old daughter who doesn't even know that he's her father and on top of all that his mom Jesse Keller, Olivia Cole, is in a nursing home that she's about to be thrown out of because there's no money to pay her bills.
With no money in his wallet and no money coming in from the US Army Eddie in an act of desperation tries to become a stick-up artiest only to fail miserably; at one point Eddie was so scared trying to rob a bank that he embarrassingly wet himself to the shock and outrage of the bank teller that he tried to rob.
Eddie finally hits it big by following two security men Tank and Mickey, Martin Azarow & Matt Clark, who work for the Fidelity Western Bank into an office building with two suitcases loaded with some $250,000.00 in cash and securities. Catching one of the security men, Tank, in the mens room with his, not Eddie's, pants down and robbing him at "toy gun" point then taking off with the suitcase loaded with the securities, not cash, Eddie now has to find someone to convert them for him and the only one's who can do that are those who work for the mob.
Richard Pryor in his second, the 1978 movie "Blue Collar" was his first, non all comedy role is both touching and courageous as Cpl.Eddie Keller who tries to make things better for himself and his mom but ends up being the real, not the made up, hero in the eyes of his friends in and out of the army.
Nice supporting roles in the movie by both Margot Kidder and Ronny Cox as high-priced hooker Toni Donovan and Eddie's fellow GI Col. Powers who tries to ease Eddie back into civilian life.Feel-good ending with Eddie chased by the mob who tried to rip off, not convert, his stolen government bonds and then attempted to murder him.
Eddie turns the tables on the mobsters and at the conclusion of the movie ends up, like the song says, taking care of business with everyone the bank the army and the nursing home that his mom is in, including himself and Toni, ending up much better off for it.
With nothing to eat but rice and roaches and having a pet rat as a cell-mate things pick up a bit for Eddie when he had another US POW Vinnie Diangelo, Ray Sharkey, as company but even that turned out to be a tragedy for Eddie with Vinnie dying, and without any medical care, he signed a statement saying that the US was committing war crimes in Vietnam in order to get Vinnie help. All that did for Eddie, Vinnie seemed to have died anyway, was brand him a traitor, Eddie was later cleared of that accusation, and indefinitely holds up his severance pay for spending five years behind bamboo bars for his country.
Back home things got even worse for Eddie by him first finding out that his wife Lisa, Lyne Moody,was living with another man, who together with Lisa blew all of Eddie's savings, and has a young six year old daughter who doesn't even know that he's her father and on top of all that his mom Jesse Keller, Olivia Cole, is in a nursing home that she's about to be thrown out of because there's no money to pay her bills.
With no money in his wallet and no money coming in from the US Army Eddie in an act of desperation tries to become a stick-up artiest only to fail miserably; at one point Eddie was so scared trying to rob a bank that he embarrassingly wet himself to the shock and outrage of the bank teller that he tried to rob.
Eddie finally hits it big by following two security men Tank and Mickey, Martin Azarow & Matt Clark, who work for the Fidelity Western Bank into an office building with two suitcases loaded with some $250,000.00 in cash and securities. Catching one of the security men, Tank, in the mens room with his, not Eddie's, pants down and robbing him at "toy gun" point then taking off with the suitcase loaded with the securities, not cash, Eddie now has to find someone to convert them for him and the only one's who can do that are those who work for the mob.
Richard Pryor in his second, the 1978 movie "Blue Collar" was his first, non all comedy role is both touching and courageous as Cpl.Eddie Keller who tries to make things better for himself and his mom but ends up being the real, not the made up, hero in the eyes of his friends in and out of the army.
Nice supporting roles in the movie by both Margot Kidder and Ronny Cox as high-priced hooker Toni Donovan and Eddie's fellow GI Col. Powers who tries to ease Eddie back into civilian life.Feel-good ending with Eddie chased by the mob who tried to rip off, not convert, his stolen government bonds and then attempted to murder him.
Eddie turns the tables on the mobsters and at the conclusion of the movie ends up, like the song says, taking care of business with everyone the bank the army and the nursing home that his mom is in, including himself and Toni, ending up much better off for it.
Wow what the hell ?
nameismike695 February 2021
I saw this movie in 1982 I suppose ... I don't know who made this movie but it's like they had a deficient brain. I watched a bunch of crap and by the time the movie got rolling and more looking forward to Margot Kidder there was 30 minutes left of the movie... Like they had ideas for a story line but a 90 minute film didn't cut it or they should of cut most of the crap in the a prison cell and wanted him to sign some papers. Now I'm about to watch the last 30 minutes ... What in the hell are they going to even work out in 30 minutes that's with the 3 minute credits. I was a major Richard Pryor fan around this time and I remember being with my now late Dad watching this movie and walking out and being completely like what that movie any good ? I was 12 I guess when I saw this. So Silver Streak it wasn't I also saw Stir Crazy and in retrospect that wasn't really good either. I saw The Toy and that was a better made film... Although there was some issues about Pryor in the film I forget what... Even his third stand up film was bad. Live on the Sunset Strip was pretty good... His mastepiece was Live In Concert ... Probably one of the best stand up films ever made. Superman 4 sucked should I go on ? Then got MS in 1985 and that was the end of Richard Pryor. He made like a Moving film that sucked ... There was one good one in 83 I think where he drove a bus...
Damages from War on Pryor's serious performance!!!
elo-equipamentos28 November 2017
Who already follow the Pryor's career will be surprised about this serious role in this anti-war movie, based on a book this picture bring to us an another and hidden Pryor's profile, without losing focus of course, he takes all bitter experience from a soldier who was at Vietinam's POW and all this is handling by USA's Army when he is back, the real problem begin when he realize that he isn't a hero anymore,he has judgment after he'd signs a complete confession to save a soldier's life, forgotten by his wife and worst by own country is too much for him, all mixed with good jokes and con behavior takes the picture as a pleasant entertainment!!
Resume:
First watch: 1994 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-VHS-DVD-R / Rating: 7
Resume:
First watch: 1994 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-VHS-DVD-R / Rating: 7
Some Kind of Zero
view_and_review6 July 2019
IMdB has this movie listed as a comedy, crime, drama. There was nothing funny about it. There was crime and drama but it was very short on comedy.
Richard Pryor plays Eddie Keller, a Vietnam soldier who was a POW for many years. Upon arriving home he finds that his wife loves another man, he has no money, and his mother is in a convalescent home after a stroke. He can't win for losing. Soon after that he meets Toni (Margot Kidder), a high-priced Beverly Hills prostitute, and things seem to be getting a little better.
As a side note: I only know Margot Kidder as one character: Lois Lane. How dare they do this to Lois Lane?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Richard Pryor doesn't have the right look for a serious role. No matter what he does he looks like a comedian. So, imagine the mental gymnastics my mind does when I see him playing a serious role. It does not compute. Between him in a dramatic role and Margot Kidder as a prostitute I was all off kilter.
Pryor or no Pryor this was a bad movie. It was just plain sad the majority of the time. I don't mean sad as in tearfully sad, I mean sad as in pathetic sad. Like watching a grown man stumble through the alphabet sad. The early 80's weren't a good time for Pryor.
Richard Pryor plays Eddie Keller, a Vietnam soldier who was a POW for many years. Upon arriving home he finds that his wife loves another man, he has no money, and his mother is in a convalescent home after a stroke. He can't win for losing. Soon after that he meets Toni (Margot Kidder), a high-priced Beverly Hills prostitute, and things seem to be getting a little better.
As a side note: I only know Margot Kidder as one character: Lois Lane. How dare they do this to Lois Lane?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Richard Pryor doesn't have the right look for a serious role. No matter what he does he looks like a comedian. So, imagine the mental gymnastics my mind does when I see him playing a serious role. It does not compute. Between him in a dramatic role and Margot Kidder as a prostitute I was all off kilter.
Pryor or no Pryor this was a bad movie. It was just plain sad the majority of the time. I don't mean sad as in tearfully sad, I mean sad as in pathetic sad. Like watching a grown man stumble through the alphabet sad. The early 80's weren't a good time for Pryor.
Great film up until about the middle
pwmoses29 May 2000
This film starts off like an extremely poignant drama. The bond between Richard Pryor and Ray Sharkey in the POW camp is seamlessly acted. The musical score by Patrick Williams is outstanding and very sad. The films middle is just as good, with very moving parts with Pryor returning from war to deal with problems with his mother, his wife, and his life. However, after this the film goes awry. The films keeps its respectability however, because Pryor is such a good actor.
Lack of Character Development disappoints
jguz584 April 2021
I watched this fresh off maybe my third read of the source novel, so for me, the lack of character development really shows up. I understand it's difficult to fit everything covered in a 294 page novel, but this could of been a much better movie if it was lengthened by about 15 minutes, with emphasis on character development, along with more story of what drove Eddie to take the risks he did after the military turned their back on him. I especially missed seeing more of his interaction with his mom, and feel they glossed over Eddie's time as a POW. Richard Pryor performed well as a dramatic actor here, they shouldn't have insisted making the film into yet another comedy vehicle.
Huh?
hulkjelly-9582620 June 2020
A bit too much language, but still enjoyable, and a personal favourite
ptl016814 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS I remember seeing this on video in the mid-late 80s - and still can't get a Region 2 DVD of this one, so make do with a VHS copy made many years ago.
Based on James Kirkwood's novel, Pryor does his typical (sometimes foul mouthed) routines as a POW returning to find his life has fallen apart. The early dramatic scenes have quite an impact, actually more so than the comedic scenes.
Pryor tries hard with the material and there are some genuinely funny moments (the signing of the confession is one).
Ronny Cox offers sturdy support and Margot Kidder plays the 'tart with a heart' who eventually drives off into the sunset with Pryor and $100,000 to boot!
I've always had a soft spot for this movie, and was unjustly ignored at the box office. Pryor's screen presence carries this one, but this is still no way a turkey.
Based on James Kirkwood's novel, Pryor does his typical (sometimes foul mouthed) routines as a POW returning to find his life has fallen apart. The early dramatic scenes have quite an impact, actually more so than the comedic scenes.
Pryor tries hard with the material and there are some genuinely funny moments (the signing of the confession is one).
Ronny Cox offers sturdy support and Margot Kidder plays the 'tart with a heart' who eventually drives off into the sunset with Pryor and $100,000 to boot!
I've always had a soft spot for this movie, and was unjustly ignored at the box office. Pryor's screen presence carries this one, but this is still no way a turkey.
Not terrible, but the tonal shifts are jarring
terrywatt37518 November 2023
1982's Some Kind Of Hero kinda came and went at the box office. Was released, made a small yet decent profit, and hasn't ended up being one of the movies many talk about often when discussing Pryor's movie career.
Part of that, I suppose, had to do with when the movie was released and within the context of Pryor's total filmography. Back then, Pryor was known pretty much exclusively for his comedic roles, which made sense because up until 1982 the vast majority of the movies Pryor had appeared in were either flat-out comedies or movies in which Pryor had a comedic role.
Some Kind Of Hero wasn't a comedy, which is to say the plot, characters, story and settings weren't necessarily funny in and of themselves. The movie, based on an adaptation of the 1975 novel of the same name, wasn't originally conceived as a comedy. Made sense, because the book wasn't written with an emphasis on humor, either. The backstory on the movie involves the flick being in development for several years, only being green-lighted when Pryor eventually agreed to star in it following the smash success of the 1980 movie Sitr Crazy. After Stir Crazy, Pryor was seen as a highly bankable movie star, thus having his name attached to Some Kind Of Hero made sense to the production company, Paramount Pictures, from a fiduciary standpoint.
All of which could seem workable in a cursory or glancing manner, until one thought a little deeper. By the time the movie was in production in 1981, it was already a couple of years after a spate of far superior movies depicting the Vietnam War as experienced by American GI's (in the form of 1978's Coming Home, 1979's Apocalypse Now, 1978's The Deer Hunter, 1977's Rolling Thunder, all very serious in tone and intent) both during the fighting and after returning home had been released. The 1981 production of Some Kind Of Hero also took place just a bit before the 1980's glut of Vietnam-centric or themed movies (1982's First Blood, 1986's Platoon, 1987's Full Metal Jacket, 1989's Casualties Of War, along with all those mid-80's Chuck Norris shoot-'em-ups and the 1985 First Blood sequel, Rambo) got rolling.
Looking back on it, Some Kind Of Hero getting released in 1982 seemed like a movie that had come out a few years too late to catch the late 1970's cinematic wave and several years too early to catch the mid-1980's deluge in terms of public interest. While hindsight is indeed 20/20 re: the 1980's stuff, one tends to doubt in 1981 there was a general sense that the public was clamoring for another movie concerning Vietnam, and certainly not one starring Richard Pryor.
Although one can look back and say the movie had perhaps languished in development limbo a bit too long to capitalize on the late 1970's Vietnam Movie Boom, it does also bring up the question as to if Pryor in 1981 was the right actor to be attached to the film in terms of starring in it, regarding the film as both an artistic statement and a commercial venture.
Some Kind Of Hero could certainly be classified as a Richard Pryor movie in the sense that he is in virtually every scene of the film. However, the same could also be said for the 1982 Pryor movie Live On The Sunset Strip, a film of one of Pryor's stand-up comedy shows. The difference being that the latter showcases what audiences wanted most from Pryor, which is to say his inarguable skill and genius as a comedian.
The rub, as mentioned, being that of Some Kind Of Hero not created as a comedy film yet ending up with a star essentially looked upon as a comedic actor with the emphasis of his roles in previous films having smartly been placed upon the comedy vs, dramatic acting.
So, was Some Kind Of Hero the right movie for Pryor to star in? Or, conversely, was Pryor the right actor for Some Kind Of Hero?
As it worked out...sort of.
Part of the problem was once Pryor was attached to the movie, Paramount Pictures naturally insisted rewrites should be undertaken to punch up the script with humor. In terms of the box office, this certainly made sense, far more sense than making a flat-out drama starring Richard Pryor. With respect to what one feels the original script was going for, these brief yet frequent comic interludes as executed on film come across being out of place. Especially since the better parts of what ended up onscreen, to me, are the more dramatic aspects of the movie...of which there are many. From Pryor's character being incarcerated in a POW camp for 5 years to his return to America and subsequently finding out his wife gave birth to his young daughter (her pregnancy a fact Pryor's character was unaware of both before his capture and during the entirety of his imprisonment), to THEN finding out his wife has hooked up with another man during his absence to THEN finding out his wife and her new man blew through all of Pryor's savings in a failed business venture while he was in Vietnam to THEN finding out his mother had a stroke while he was away and is in a nursing home which is getting ready to relinquish her housing if her nursing care bills aren't paid to THEN finding out that the US Army is holding up his back pay accrued during his half-decade captivity because of bureaucratic red tape...Prior's character spends 5 years in a prison camp to return home and find out his marriage is over, he has a daughter he has never met who calls another man 'Daddy', he has no money, no source of income, can't get a bank loan...none of which brings to mind the phrase 'comedy gold' re: situational premises.
The upside is that Prior does infuse many of the scenes which clearly call for a dramatic response with a believable amount of ability strictly in terms of the acting. That isn't to say it was an exceptional amount of ability, however, but certainly more ability than his previous movie roles had evidenced. Overall, though, while Pryor is rightly praised as a comedic genius and a highly effective comedic actor that doesn't therefore mean Pryor was an all-around great actor: he wasn't. I will say that perhaps given more time and more dramatic roles Pryor could have went on to be a highly effective dramatic actor, but that was never where his strengths lay and as a result the many dramatic scenes in Some Kind Of Hero end up coming off as ones that were merely...passable, sort of lightweight drama at best. Since these scenes far outweigh the comedic ones, it makes the specific comedy bits inserted to play to Pryor's strengths out of step with the movie itself (and it should be noted few to none of the comedy bits are howlingly hilarious, comedy obviously being subjective). What the movie ends up being is something that is neither as impactful as it might have been in dramatic terms were it approached more as a straight drama with a more capable dramatic actor in the lead role nor as comedically effective as it might have been had the comedy been not so tempered in order to emphasize the dramatic aspects.
As other reviewers have mentioned - and something I have long found to be true, also - It is also highly noticeable that right around the halfway mark where Pryor meets the Toni Donovan character (a high-priced prostitute played by Superman The Movie's Margot Kidder...although Kidder certainly turns in a good performance, Lois Lane as a hooker?) the movie loses steam. The last reel meanders into a convoluted series of robbery and black-market fencing scenes that come across as neither plausible nor skillfully connected with the first half of the movie. The ending scenes in particular have the feeling of several scenarios clumsily slammed together in order to give the flick an upbeat ending.
Made for a budget of $8 million and taking in $23 million in 1982 USD, Some Kind Of Hero was by no means a flop but was at best a minor success at the box office. After this, Pryor went back to his bread and butter, which was screwball comedy. On film, post-1982 he never again quite attained the comedic heights nor the box office success of his apex, 1980's Stir Crazy. He DID, however, subsequently go on to make one movie which blended comedy and drama a bit more effectively than Some Kind Of Hero. That came in the form of 1986's semi-autobiographical Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling.
Additionally, for whatever interest it may be to film buffs, the opening Vietnam War scenes in Some Kind Of Hero were shot at the Indian Dunes film ranch in California a little more than a year before the infamous 1982 helicopter accident on the Twilight Zone: The Movie production set took place in roughly the same location.
For years, Some Kind Of Hero was only available for home viewing on cable tv or VHS in 1.33:1 or Fullscreen aspect ratio. In the mid 2000's, it finally became available in a widescreen dvd format. In 2015, Olive Films put out a Blu-ray version in 1.78:1 Widescreen aspect ratio, the version of which is very bare-bones (literally a single title screen with only Play and Subtitle options and no extras of any kind) but having owned all other previous home video release types of the flick I can say the 2015 Blu-ray version is the best in terms of watchability.
Ultimately, an at times mildly humorous and mildly effective dramatic comedy/comedic drama that also becomes a slight endurance test in the 2nd half of the movie to get through with a bit of an underwhelming conclusion.
Part of that, I suppose, had to do with when the movie was released and within the context of Pryor's total filmography. Back then, Pryor was known pretty much exclusively for his comedic roles, which made sense because up until 1982 the vast majority of the movies Pryor had appeared in were either flat-out comedies or movies in which Pryor had a comedic role.
Some Kind Of Hero wasn't a comedy, which is to say the plot, characters, story and settings weren't necessarily funny in and of themselves. The movie, based on an adaptation of the 1975 novel of the same name, wasn't originally conceived as a comedy. Made sense, because the book wasn't written with an emphasis on humor, either. The backstory on the movie involves the flick being in development for several years, only being green-lighted when Pryor eventually agreed to star in it following the smash success of the 1980 movie Sitr Crazy. After Stir Crazy, Pryor was seen as a highly bankable movie star, thus having his name attached to Some Kind Of Hero made sense to the production company, Paramount Pictures, from a fiduciary standpoint.
All of which could seem workable in a cursory or glancing manner, until one thought a little deeper. By the time the movie was in production in 1981, it was already a couple of years after a spate of far superior movies depicting the Vietnam War as experienced by American GI's (in the form of 1978's Coming Home, 1979's Apocalypse Now, 1978's The Deer Hunter, 1977's Rolling Thunder, all very serious in tone and intent) both during the fighting and after returning home had been released. The 1981 production of Some Kind Of Hero also took place just a bit before the 1980's glut of Vietnam-centric or themed movies (1982's First Blood, 1986's Platoon, 1987's Full Metal Jacket, 1989's Casualties Of War, along with all those mid-80's Chuck Norris shoot-'em-ups and the 1985 First Blood sequel, Rambo) got rolling.
Looking back on it, Some Kind Of Hero getting released in 1982 seemed like a movie that had come out a few years too late to catch the late 1970's cinematic wave and several years too early to catch the mid-1980's deluge in terms of public interest. While hindsight is indeed 20/20 re: the 1980's stuff, one tends to doubt in 1981 there was a general sense that the public was clamoring for another movie concerning Vietnam, and certainly not one starring Richard Pryor.
Although one can look back and say the movie had perhaps languished in development limbo a bit too long to capitalize on the late 1970's Vietnam Movie Boom, it does also bring up the question as to if Pryor in 1981 was the right actor to be attached to the film in terms of starring in it, regarding the film as both an artistic statement and a commercial venture.
Some Kind Of Hero could certainly be classified as a Richard Pryor movie in the sense that he is in virtually every scene of the film. However, the same could also be said for the 1982 Pryor movie Live On The Sunset Strip, a film of one of Pryor's stand-up comedy shows. The difference being that the latter showcases what audiences wanted most from Pryor, which is to say his inarguable skill and genius as a comedian.
The rub, as mentioned, being that of Some Kind Of Hero not created as a comedy film yet ending up with a star essentially looked upon as a comedic actor with the emphasis of his roles in previous films having smartly been placed upon the comedy vs, dramatic acting.
So, was Some Kind Of Hero the right movie for Pryor to star in? Or, conversely, was Pryor the right actor for Some Kind Of Hero?
As it worked out...sort of.
Part of the problem was once Pryor was attached to the movie, Paramount Pictures naturally insisted rewrites should be undertaken to punch up the script with humor. In terms of the box office, this certainly made sense, far more sense than making a flat-out drama starring Richard Pryor. With respect to what one feels the original script was going for, these brief yet frequent comic interludes as executed on film come across being out of place. Especially since the better parts of what ended up onscreen, to me, are the more dramatic aspects of the movie...of which there are many. From Pryor's character being incarcerated in a POW camp for 5 years to his return to America and subsequently finding out his wife gave birth to his young daughter (her pregnancy a fact Pryor's character was unaware of both before his capture and during the entirety of his imprisonment), to THEN finding out his wife has hooked up with another man during his absence to THEN finding out his wife and her new man blew through all of Pryor's savings in a failed business venture while he was in Vietnam to THEN finding out his mother had a stroke while he was away and is in a nursing home which is getting ready to relinquish her housing if her nursing care bills aren't paid to THEN finding out that the US Army is holding up his back pay accrued during his half-decade captivity because of bureaucratic red tape...Prior's character spends 5 years in a prison camp to return home and find out his marriage is over, he has a daughter he has never met who calls another man 'Daddy', he has no money, no source of income, can't get a bank loan...none of which brings to mind the phrase 'comedy gold' re: situational premises.
The upside is that Prior does infuse many of the scenes which clearly call for a dramatic response with a believable amount of ability strictly in terms of the acting. That isn't to say it was an exceptional amount of ability, however, but certainly more ability than his previous movie roles had evidenced. Overall, though, while Pryor is rightly praised as a comedic genius and a highly effective comedic actor that doesn't therefore mean Pryor was an all-around great actor: he wasn't. I will say that perhaps given more time and more dramatic roles Pryor could have went on to be a highly effective dramatic actor, but that was never where his strengths lay and as a result the many dramatic scenes in Some Kind Of Hero end up coming off as ones that were merely...passable, sort of lightweight drama at best. Since these scenes far outweigh the comedic ones, it makes the specific comedy bits inserted to play to Pryor's strengths out of step with the movie itself (and it should be noted few to none of the comedy bits are howlingly hilarious, comedy obviously being subjective). What the movie ends up being is something that is neither as impactful as it might have been in dramatic terms were it approached more as a straight drama with a more capable dramatic actor in the lead role nor as comedically effective as it might have been had the comedy been not so tempered in order to emphasize the dramatic aspects.
As other reviewers have mentioned - and something I have long found to be true, also - It is also highly noticeable that right around the halfway mark where Pryor meets the Toni Donovan character (a high-priced prostitute played by Superman The Movie's Margot Kidder...although Kidder certainly turns in a good performance, Lois Lane as a hooker?) the movie loses steam. The last reel meanders into a convoluted series of robbery and black-market fencing scenes that come across as neither plausible nor skillfully connected with the first half of the movie. The ending scenes in particular have the feeling of several scenarios clumsily slammed together in order to give the flick an upbeat ending.
Made for a budget of $8 million and taking in $23 million in 1982 USD, Some Kind Of Hero was by no means a flop but was at best a minor success at the box office. After this, Pryor went back to his bread and butter, which was screwball comedy. On film, post-1982 he never again quite attained the comedic heights nor the box office success of his apex, 1980's Stir Crazy. He DID, however, subsequently go on to make one movie which blended comedy and drama a bit more effectively than Some Kind Of Hero. That came in the form of 1986's semi-autobiographical Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling.
Additionally, for whatever interest it may be to film buffs, the opening Vietnam War scenes in Some Kind Of Hero were shot at the Indian Dunes film ranch in California a little more than a year before the infamous 1982 helicopter accident on the Twilight Zone: The Movie production set took place in roughly the same location.
For years, Some Kind Of Hero was only available for home viewing on cable tv or VHS in 1.33:1 or Fullscreen aspect ratio. In the mid 2000's, it finally became available in a widescreen dvd format. In 2015, Olive Films put out a Blu-ray version in 1.78:1 Widescreen aspect ratio, the version of which is very bare-bones (literally a single title screen with only Play and Subtitle options and no extras of any kind) but having owned all other previous home video release types of the flick I can say the 2015 Blu-ray version is the best in terms of watchability.
Ultimately, an at times mildly humorous and mildly effective dramatic comedy/comedic drama that also becomes a slight endurance test in the 2nd half of the movie to get through with a bit of an underwhelming conclusion.
One of Richard Pryor's Best!
Sylviastel18 June 2018
Richard Pryor and Margot Kidder act in this film about a POW who returns home to the United States particularly Los Angeles, California dealing with his wife and mother. The film has a great cast such as Olivia Cole, Lynne Moody and Anne Haney in supporting roles. Richard Pryor was a terrific actor as well as comedian. This film was on a DVD that I found at the store. It's a great little gem of a movie.
"From here on out. "It's straight 7's for Eddie"
dabooneman8126 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie can be brilliant in many ways.For it's mixing of Comedy and Drama. Richard Pryor's portrayal of Vietnam vet Eddie Keller is so human,Funny,fragile,sad.But in the end.A triumph of the human spirit.He gets caught with his pants down by the enemy in Vietnam.Literally.He then is thrown in a prison camp.A friendship grows between him and a mouse then another ensues with A Pow. The viet-kong wants him to sign a document basically saying the U.S army is wrong for engaging in the war.He turns the kong general down several times.Until his POW pal Turns very ill.So in order to get his a friend a doctor he signs it and is on his way back home to the US. He discovers a whole lot has changed since being in the prison camp.He has a daughter.His wife loves somebody else.She and her new love changed the bookstore into a novelty shop and it went bankrupt.On top of all that she mentions that Eddie's mother had a Stroke and can hardly talk.Very touching scene. More bad news.He's behind in the nursing home payments and if he can't pay.She can't stay. But he's expecting back pay from the military.Or so he thought.The problem is he signed that document.Military considers it a act of treason.So he can't get his back pay. So he goes to a bar to try and come 2 a resolution and meets Toni(Margot Kidder)Very sexy as a hooker with a heart of gold in this movie.They hook up and get close.So he has to get the money up some how.So he decides to rob a couples stores and banks.Or at least tries.Until he sees these two guys with bags of money making a withdrawal out of the bank and he decides to follow them and ............. I'm telling too much.You have to watch the movie to know the rest.There are some things that aren't resolved by the movie's end.Like Eddie's relationship with his wife,daughter and the military issue.Other than that Great Movie.Great Music.Love the score and theme song.Great Performance from Richard Pryor,who puts strong emotions and movie he's made.He's a comic genius,god.The greatest in my opinion.So I would recommend u see this film for a good story,a good laugh,a good cry,and Most importantly for Richard Pryor. see Blue Collar 1978'. Another great film and performance from Daddy Rich.
Very good movie
terrydebord17 May 2020
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